Betsy DeVos, billionaire Republican donor, pretty much just bought a position in the highest tiers of American government. Following a shockingly poor Senate education committee hearing performance [1], DeVos's confirmation was vehemently opposed by Democrats and two Republicans. An effort to sway another Republican during an all-night session in which the Democrats commandeered the floor was unsuccessful, and DeVos was confirmed in February by Vice President Mike Pence, who had to break a tie vote [2].

While Republicans rarely break rank and vote against their party, Democrats had an especially difficult time convincing their Republican counterparts to vote against her, likely for one simple reason: the DeVos family has donated thousands of dollars to sitting Republican senators.

Here's how much they received from DeVos: #DeVosVote [3] #NoOnDeVos [4] #DumpDeVos [5] pic.twitter.com/Fhm6R9awbf [6]

— CAP Education (@EdProgress) February 7, 2017 [7]

The Federal Election Commission requires the full disclosure of campaign donations, and, as is apparent from this list [8], DeVos donated to at least 23 senators' reelection campaigns — including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. It prompts the question: had DeVos not consistently distributed her wealth to Republican officials, would she have been confirmed?

DeVos has never worked in a public school, never sent a child to public school, and never attended public school herself — and now she'll impact the system on a national level. DeVos has also long championed charter schools as an alternative to public schools, suggesting the entire system might change dramatically [9] under her direction. After her disastrous committee hearing, she allegedly copied written answers from an Obama administration website that she submitted [10] to defend her qualifications. If that's not unqualified, what would it take for Republican senators to consider her an "incompetent" cabinet appointment [11]?